To you folks when you come to a service prepared to receive this is what happens. I am amazed how that I can come into a building and I've seen this over and over and over all over the United States and I can watch the spirit of God touch people and watch other people right next to them just sit there and look like, "Wow." The reason being is that one person's opened up their hearts. The other person has come to observe.

We must remember that God did not create us to be spectators. He put Adam in the garden because he wanted somebody to walk with. He wanted someone to fellowship with. I'm just going to say this to you. I'm from Orlando and I love this city. In Orlando, you've almost come to the place where you're used to the gift going into operation and partaking of it. Because God has put such a strong gifting in this church. You've almost come to the place where you can come to the area of just saying, "All right, go into operation, I'm ready to receive." Instead of having the hunger to seek, it can almost be dangerous.

That is why Jesus looked at Chorazin and Bethsaida and said, "Woe to you. What has happened in you would have happened." Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented a long time ago. There is a danger of coming almost too familiar with the gifting of God. When the gifting of God is abundance, that can almost be dangerous because the hunger level can actually go down and it's just like, "All right, come on, serve it to me." You're sure quiet here. Are you here?

You know, I've not ministered here in two years in Orlando. And I'm just going to tell you, there's been a change. And I'm going to cities all over the United States where they're dry and they're thirsty. But they're hungry and they're crying out. And God is visiting places.

We cannot, never, ever, ever, ever, ever take the presence of God and the power of God as a common thing. There's hunger for it. Because the hungrier we are, the more we can eat. You say, but I'm here. I came out on a Thursday night. You can come and spectate. You can come and see what new gifting or what different gifting we're going to have in this place. That's not what God wants.

You think I'm taking pleasure out of saying this to my own hometown, the first night of my own crusade? But I don't care. I made it in my mind a long time ago. I'd tell what God tells me to tell, whether people like it or not. I believe God has put this together to do a work in our hearts, to where we can partake more.

Because the hungrier we are, the more we can eat. The sign of a sick person is that they have lost their hunger, their appetite. A person with the flu is not hungry as they used to be. A person with cancer goes down to 70, 80 pounds. But a hungry person has a healthy appetite.

God's not looking for sophisticated worshipers. When I fell in love with this woman right here, I went bonkers over her. I was beside myself. I couldn't wait to be with her. I hungered for her. I cried. I called her. I'd call her when I didn't have the money to call her when we were separated long distance.

I go overseas. I've spent $50 on one phone call, but I don't care. It's my wife. And I'm halfway around the world in Singapore, and I've been gone two weeks. I'm calling her. And I'm going to talk to her two times a day if I have to. Because God said, "Leave and cleave," and I'm hungry for her.

You understand what I'm saying? There are people that have actually learned to live satisfied without hunger and without the presence of God. And that's dangerous. When a gifting is strong, you can actually come into the building and just cruise into it because of the strong gifting. But you must realize that God gives that gifting so you can go further.

Brownsville right now, they're hungry. They come hungry. They come thirsty because they're there to meet with God. We must realize that God's not looking for people to seek him for what he can do for them. He's not looking for people to seek him for how they can get a healing or a miracle or deliverance.

He wants people to seek him just because of who he is. That's what he's looking for. Look at Exodus, the 33rd chapter. I look at the children of Israel, and I look at what I find in America, in times and places, and I see a very scary similarity.

Now, you talk about a people that saw the power of God. I don't know a generation that's seen such power. Were right in the middle of the power, I mean to tell you did they understand miracles? They saw miracles. Moses prays and hail rains out of a clear blue sky and when it hits the ground it turns into fire. He prays again and darkness covers the land for three straight days holds his rod open his hands up and the Red Sea splits.

And the children of Israel the next morning walk across dry ground, not muddy ground, dry ground, with a wall of water on one side and a wall of water on the other side. Now, I don't know any ministries that are splitting lakes today. And when God's power was manifesting, you talk about a people that were willing? Oh, my, my.

See, the Bible says this. In the day of your power, your people will be willing. That is a statement of fact. The children of Israel were willing. They actually feared the Lord whenever his power was working. When he was moving on their behalf, oh, hallelujah, they were excited. But when his presence wasn't manifesting, they got lethargic. They got complacent. They didn't press into the mountain. They didn't press into the presence of God.

Moses would go to the top of the mountain. Joshua said, well, I'm getting as close as I can get. He'd go to the foot. The people waited. They said, we're going to wait until we get blessed again. Folks, I'm telling you, we've got to have a passion. A driving passion on the inside of us that wants God more than we want anything.

Does your heart literally ache for him? In California, just two weeks ago, I'm in bed one night, the lights are out, it's after midnight, and I'm just listening to worship music and worshiping God in my bed. And I began to weep so profusely that my heart literally ached and said, "My God, thank you that we don't have to live a thousand years anymore." Thank you that we don't have to live as long as Adam did.

God, I'm aching for you. I literally, my heart was aching. I thought, I'm almost 40. I don't have to go more than 50, 60 more years before I can be in your presence and behold you else that matters besides that folks how come people can come here and just sit here and worship like this and praise like this and some of you are looking at them like wow they're excited they're enthused no they're in love so you don't know this is the way this church lives.

They're praying constantly around the clock. You go to their services. My wife was in their services four months ago. And you know what she did? She wept both services during the praise and worship. Why? Because they had hunger. That's what God's looking for is hunger.

Yes, you can come to services, but you cannot necessarily have hunger for him. You can have hunger for him to bless you, but that's different than having hunger for him. Pastor Al Bryce, who opened the Crusades, sitting right over here with his wife, Teva. One of my dearest friends. I've known him since 1981. He was actually my pastor for many years.

We went to their church last September. Four days of meetings. And boy, I'll tell you, this church is so hungry. Started the church five years ago with seven people. Now they've got 1,400 people. Fayetteville, North Carolina. Right in the middle of Fort Bragg. And just like this church, right here.

Their church represents the population. 40% black, 40% white, and then Hispanics, and just the way it's going to be around the throne. Amen. They love God with all their hearts. And we started on Sunday morning. We went through Wednesday night. And I mean the Spirit of God was falling on those people.

And Wednesday night, the Spirit of God came down, and then he lifted, and then he came down, and then he lifted, and the Lord spoke. And I was like, "Lord, what's happening here?" And the Lord spoke and said, there's been a curse over this city. Churches, once they hit a thousand people, they either become ineffective or they split.

And the Lord said, tell them to fast 40 days and it'll be broken. They were only running about 900 at this place, at this point. And I said it, and the pastor, Pastor Bryce, jumped on it. And the whole church, I mean 75% of that church probably, jumped on it with everything in them.

They begin to seek God. And it wasn't a fast of food. Fasting food sometimes is easier. Fasting food sometimes is easier. It was a fast of those things which kept them from seeking the presence of God. Newspaper, football, games, shopping, computer games, whatever it was. Replacing it with seeking God.

Young people in their church that were making D's and F's. Is this true? Now we're on the honor roll. Kids disobedient to parents all of a sudden changing. The presence of God coming to the meeting, and they're going through revival this 40 days. And then he said, John, I want you to come back when the 40 days is up because I told them I had the day open.

And we went back. And all they did is just come in, and they were hungry. And I'm telling you, their praise and worship, oh, my goodness, their praise and worship. You just feel like you're going to rapture. I just sit there and jump up and down on the platform the whole time during praise.

And that night, Sunday night, the building was packed, 1,400 people, 100 people in the overflow room. The Spirit of God fell about 9 o'clock. And I'm telling you, young children, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 years old, the Spirit of God falls on them.

And they started screaming. I said, "My God, he's on the children, he's on the children." And they came running down. And here are these kids, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 years old, wringing their hands profusely like fires on them, screaming, shaking uncontrollably.

He's watching his children right down there in the front, shaking profusely, crying out. He has an analytical son. He's never seen this happen. His oldest son, shaking, crying, weeping uncontrollably. This didn't go on for 10 minutes. This went on for an hour and a half.

Here's the adults just weeping, tears pouring down their eyes. I'm sitting there going, "My God, can it get any stronger?" And yet another wave comes in and it gets stronger. And then another wave comes in and it gets stronger. Another wave gets in and it comes stronger. And I'm sitting there going, it can't get any stronger. But yet it does.

It gets stronger. It gets stronger. And the kids are screaming louder every time the wave comes in. And somebody goes, "That doesn't make any sense." Well, it doesn't when you're a spectator. All I know is that whenever God comes, things happen.

One child walks up to his mom and says, "Fast as an over." Another child walks up. Child walks up to the pastor and says, there was no ceiling. There were white beams of light coming down. There were like rays of white bright light falling on all of us.

Missionary sitting in the back of the room said she saw balls of fire falling on the building. Just the church is hungry. Who's ever heard of Fayetteville except for Fort Bragg? I have found in traveling, the hungrier the people are, the more God comes.

You can have the gifting of God, yet not be hungry. Judas was around Jesus for three and a half years, yet he wasn't hungry. The children of Israel were around power, yet they weren't hungry. Oh, they delighted when the power benefited them. Now come on, now talk to me.

Moses splits the Red Sea, and they walk across dry ground. And then they turn around and look, and there's their oppressors that have oppressed them 430 years, every one of them buried under the sea. Now, you talk about getting excited. They got excited.

The Bible says every one of them. Now, picture this. Three million Jews. You talk about a charismatic party. They had a charismatic party. They began to sing, "I will sing unto the Lord, where he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and the rider thrown into the sea."

And then after the whole congregation was gone, Miriam grabs the timbrel, all the women grab the timbrels, all the women, we're talking probably almost a million women, grab their timbrels, and they go out and they start dancing and singing, "I will sing unto the Lord." Well, they were excited. Why? Because God did something for them.

For them. I said for them. Three days later. Not enough water. Not enough bread. God's brought us out here to die. They start complaining. Three days later. Three days later. All their hunger's gone. All their passion's gone. And now they're saying, well, it was better for us.

That's the key statement. It was better for me. What's better for me? What can God do for me? You're trouble going somewhere to happen. Jesus said, "You want to follow me? Die." Dead people don't worry about their own needs. Dead people trust God. Dead people have a passion for Him.

When I come into a group and went into a building where people are passionate for Him, there's an explosion. When I come into a building where people are hungry for power, there's a difference. When people are hungry for just to hear what somebody's got to say, or how good they can preach, or how good they can sing, there's a difference.

We must have it. We must have passion. As long as God was doing something for the children of Israel, they were happy. When he wasn't moving, they easily complained. You find it easy for you to complain? Complaining is rebellion, what it is. I said it's rebellion.

You know what complaining says to God? "I don't like what you're doing in my life, and if I was you, I'd do it different." It's a slap in his face to his authority. It will short-circuit the life of God in you faster than anything else.

Amen. Well, hold your places there. Put your places in Exodus 33. Look at Philippians chapter 2. I'll show it to you. Many times God will send you what you need in a package you don't want. He does that just to let you know He's God. Are you there?

Philippians 2, look at the 12th verse. Paul says here, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed... Everybody say obeyed." We're going to get into that this week. As you have always obeyed... Not as in my presence only.

Now, look up at me. I want you to read this, not like Paul is writing to Philippian church. I want you to read this like God is saying this to us. Because that's what the word of God is, isn't it? Isn't it God personally speaking to us?

Now, read this like God is speaking this to you. God says, therefore, my beloved. As you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, now much more in my absence.

In other words, can you obey God, and can you pursue God, and can you hunger for God, even when his presence is not around? The children of Israel, as long as he was moving powerfully on their behalf, were obedient, and they were praising God. But when God wasn't doing for them what they wanted, when they wanted, they were upset.

It sure is quiet here in this Presbyterian church. Are you still here?

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation. With fear and trembling.

Are we going to get into that? Somebody says, well, we don't have to fear the Lord. You know, we're New Testament believers. Perfected love casts out fear. Oh, yeah. Paul says, "Work it out with fear and trembling."

Well, fear just means the reverence. It means a little bit more than that when he says trembling, folks. See, we've not understood.

The Lord is the glorious king yet. We've understood him as daddy, but he is the consuming fire. We're going to get into that tomorrow night.

Now look at this. God says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works at you both to will and to do it for his good pleasure. Say will. See, let me tell you something, folks. God looks at the heart. He's always looking for a willing heart.

Now watch what God says here in verse 14. Do all things. Say do all things. Without complaining. Everybody say, without complaining.

I sat my three boys down one day and I looked at them and I said, boys, God hates complaining. Remember I said that to you guys? I said, you understand this. I wish we were just talking the language that God talks. We try to soften it up.

Well, God doesn't like it when we complain. God doesn't like it if we rebel. Will you quit it with that? God hates rebellion. And he hates complaining.

Let me put it this way. Lucifer just had one thought of it and got kicked out of heaven like lightning. God hates it. Problem is, many people tolerate it. We tolerate too much in our lives that God doesn't like, that God hates.

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription with proper punctuation, capitalization, and natural paragraphs:

I am passionate about it and not ashamed. You know what the problem is? We're trying to become too accepted by the world. I watch these magazines, television programs, and we're getting Hollywood entertainers and professional athletes on, and we're lifting them up, and it's almost like we're trying to admire the very thing we're to be delivered from. Jesus was rejected. We seek to be accepted. And we wonder, where's the power? Now, you know, when I say where's the power, I'm talking about where's the glory?

Glory speaks of his presence. Glory speaks of his majestic presence. When the glory of God came on the mountain, the Bible says the mountain shook, there was quaking, there was thunderings, and lightnings, and the people went, "No! Moses, you talk with God. Tell us what he says." We'll do it. How can we look at this consuming fire? And the Bible says, Moses drew near.

Now this is the same people that lived under the greatest miracles the earth has ever seen. But when the glory came, what is the glory of God? It's everything that makes God, God. It's all of his attributes, power, and characteristic. When the glory came, that's when they went, "wait a minute!" See, that's when people fall over dead, when they bring up offerings and put more emphasis on the outward rather than the heart.

See, Ananias and Sapphira put more emphasis on their appearance rather than integrity, and they did it in the presence of the glory of God, and they fell over dead. People have done that, have lied to preachers since, but haven't fallen over dead. Why? Because they haven't done it in the presence of God's glory.

Hello? We haven't seen the glory. I get so tired when I hear people say the glory's fallen, the glory's fallen, the glory's fallen in the church. It's not fallen yet, folks. When it falls, believe me, we won't have to advertise it. We won't have to tell City that we're in revival. They'll say, "what is this? We'll go, this is that." The whole city knew about it, and they were hiding in an upper room.

We had to send out an advertisement, flyers for this meeting. Believe me. I'm not satisfied. I've been in meetings where they go, "Oh, this is the great outpouring of Joel." And the Lord speaks to me on the inside and says, "Keep swimming. Keep swimming. Go deeper. Go deeper. Don't stop here."

Are you here? I'm not satisfied. If this is the glory of God, then God has greatly disappointed me. He has let me down. This is not what I've been praying for, crying out for and looking for. This is not what I've been crying.

Hey, it's great. I thank God for what he's doing. I thank him for the refreshing. We've seen people, I mean, cry and weep and shake under the power of God. I've seen people who giggle under the power of God. I've seen all, hey, it's great, it's wonderful, but guess what? They're doing that in the 1920s.

I'll tell you something. When the glory of the Lord falls, the Bible says, God says it's going to be greater than that of the former. It's going to make the book of Acts look like child's play. God spoke to me one day and said, "John, the glory of my son will be seven times greater in the book of Acts than the book of Acts."

I said, now, wait a minute, God. Time out, time out, time out, time out. I said, Lord, now, whoo, I know what happened in Acts. You've got to talk to me about this one. I said, in Acts, Lord, I mean, they didn't even have a planned meeting. 3,000 souls get saved. The whole city comes out.

The next day, they walk into a temple, raise up a crippled man, and 20,000 people get saved before they can even take an altar call because they got arrested. Because the Bible says 5,000 men. Well, I figure there's 5,000 women and probably 10,000 children.

I said, God, they get arrested. Then they come back. They pray. When they pray, the building shakes. Now, the Bible doesn't exaggerate. I know preachers do, but the Bible doesn't. When the Bible says the building shook, it shook.

I said, Lord, somebody brings up an offering to Peter and they fall over dead. Boy, Channel 6 would have a great time with that one. They'd shake in their boots. They'd say strange things happened in that place.

I mean, Peter walks out in the streets, not street, streets of Jerusalem. And all he does is walk by him, and the presence of God touches him. I don't believe it was the shadow. I believe it was the cloud of God. The glory of God was on him so strong.

It just touched people, and they're raised up. They go to a city, and the whole city gets saved. I said, God, now wait a minute. Seven times greater? I said, Lord, where's that in the world?

And the Lord said, didn't I say the end of things better than the beginning? I said, yeah. He said, didn't I say if the thief he caught, he must restore sevenfold? And didn't I say heaven must receive Jesus until the times of restoration of all things?

I said, yeah. He said, son, didn't I say if the enemy comes in one way, he must flee seven? I said, yes. He said, he came in in the dark ages. He said, but now I'm restoring.

He said, John, didn't I save the best wine for last? I said, yes, you did. And then he gave me the one that clinched them all. And that was Isaiah the 30th chapter.

Look at it. I know I'm not finishing Philippians, but I just got to let you see this. Isaiah the 30th chapter. I want you to see it. Hallelujah. I'm just trying. I just believe God is getting you hungry once again for his presence, for his glory.

There's something more. God didn't put Adam in the garden to just experience miracles and healing. He was put there to walk with God. Isaiah. Isaiah, are you there? Isaiah chapter 30.

I'm not going to go through it because that's not what I believe I'm supposed to preach on tonight. But God says in the last days, and he's speaking about the last days, he says, my people are going to put away their idols.

Let me tell you something, we got idols today. Now, our idols aren't made out of gold and silver, but there are other things. They're called shopping, sports, opposite sex, what do people think about me, my ministry, my house, etc., etc., etc.

Now, we get on the Hindus for having about 3 million. We got, I think, more in the United States. An idol is anything you love, like, or trust, give your affection to more than you love, like, or trust Jesus.

Now, when you see somebody that's passionate, you get uncomfortable. That just means that there's no idols in their life, and you probably got some in yours. Don't get nervous now. I'm just trying to help you get free.

Anytime you get nervous around somebody that's passionate, it means something's not right, because the light in them is exposing the darkness in you. Light reproves the darkness, and the darkness doesn't comprehend it.

We have secret little chambers in our heart that we like to hide things in. And we keep them all protected. But what you don't realize, what you keep in darkness remains under the domain of darkness because Satan has been chained to darkness.

But what you bring to the light comes under the domain of light. Let it out. Get rid of it. Fall in your face before God and confess it to him. Say, Lord, I'm sick and tired.

Well, don't say that. I'm tired of this complacency. I'm tired. This lethargic attitude. I'm tired of this in my life. I don't want it in my life. I want it gone from my life. God, I'm lazy. I've lost my passion. I've lost my fervency. I've lost my desire.

Lord, I need help. I'm confessing it to you. But the problem is when you walk around, I go to WOC, Pastor Hinn's my pastor. He's my pastor too, so I can talk like this.

And I'm darn thankful to God that he's my pastor. But I'm going to tell you, I can speak like this to some of you. Well, Pastor Hinn, I go to WOC. Well, hallelujah, we have miracles and all that other stuff happening.

Now, you would never say that, never talk like that, but let me tell you something that can develop. It's a subconscious thing that begins to develop here. It's actually more dangerous to be in a place like this than to be in a dry place because in a dry place you cry out.

See, the children of Israel, they learned in the dry place to cry out for God. They finally figured out that young generation. Once they got into the land of those with milk and honey, they stopped giving God the glory.

See, all of a sudden you cry out for God, you cry out for God, you cry out for God. Then God gives you a little touch. Then all of a sudden you think, ooh, hallelujah. Now all of a sudden I can say it the way I feel like it needs to be said.

I can do whatever I feel needs to be done. You understand what I'm saying? The humility goes out the window. The hunger goes out the window. The passion goes out the window. And now you become a professional. Professional Christian. Professional preacher.

Hello, hello, hello. Are you here? God says, in the last days, my people, he didn't say the Philistines, he said my people are going to put away their idols.

Now watch this. God says my people are going to put away their idols. Look what verse 22 says. Verse 22, Isaiah 30 says, you will also defile the covering of your images of silver, ornament of your mold and images of gold.

You will throw them away as an unclean thing. You will save them, get away. God says you're going to have that kind of attitude with those things in your life that have hindered you.

Now watch what happens. Verse 23, then he will give you the rain for your seed. Now, the Bible talks about the former rain and the latter rain. Everybody say former rain. Latter rain.

What was the former rain? Former rain began on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit of God was poured out, and let me tell you, when the glory of the Lord was poured out, the whole city knew about it. The whole region knew about it.

That's what happened, right? The Bible says there's a ladder rain. Now, in the former rain, it hit all over the earth. It wasn't just in one spot. We've had revivals since. Azusa Street, Kansas City outpouring. We've had Toronto Blessing. We've had Brownsville.

We're experiencing Brownsville, I should say. We have all these revivals that are experiencing, but they're in one place. When the rain of God falls, it's going to hit the earth. There's two rains that cover the earth, the early and the ladder.

The ladder hadn't come yet. Are you understanding this? The Welsh Revival, you had to travel to Wales. Azusa, you had to travel to Azusa. Brownsville, you got to go to Brownsville.

When Paul went around preaching, it happened everywhere. Same thing everywhere. Are you getting this? And let me tell you something. He's going to have a lot of warriors in these last days. And he's raising up some of the unknowns to do the greatest things the earth has ever seen.

They've never appeared on the cover of Charisma. They've never been on TVN. But they're going to blast into cities and change cities.

Not about him is their holiness. They will be holy before God. They will be humble. Now, most people don't understand what humility is. People think to be humble means you walk around and act weird and soft and religious.

All praise the Lord. Yet, David was called a man after God's heart and was humble. Yet, I see tremendous boldness in him. Cuts off a king's head and takes him by the hair and the giant's head and blood and guts and all this.

He looks at the king and says, "I'll get him!" That's humility. What does humility mean? It means you trust God for every word, you trust God for every deed.

The thing that stood out about David's life, David inquired of the Lord. He always sought God. He only moved when God said move, and he didn't move when God said don't move. That's humility, folks.

That is true humility. Being oppressed is not humility. The Bible warns that you not be deceived by false humility and visions of angels.

Hello? Some of these people get spooky religious, and they think they're spiritual. Well, they are spooky. Then they go around and give people words. Are you winning souls?

Does your heart beat for Jesus? Are you obedient? Submitted to your pastor? God says, then I'm going to give you the rain.

The rain. Say the rain. The latter rain will be greater than the... You know what Joel says? He gave you the former rain moderately.

In other words, the latter rain compared to the former rain, the former will be moderate compared to the latter. I'm glad somebody got that. If that doesn't get you going, I don't know what will get you going.

Now watch this. Verse 23. Then he'll give you the rain for your seed. Now, you keep reading down. And look at verse 26.

Moreover, this is the same day. The light of the moon. Will be as the light of the sun. And the light of the sun will be sevenfold as the light of seven days in the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of his people and heals the stroke of their wound.

Look up at me. God says the glory of the sun is going to be all 7,000 years put together. It'll be as all 7,000 years put together.

He said it'll be seven times greater. Look, folks, the sun didn't get seven times brighter when it's raining out. This is not a natural thing God is talking about. This is talking about the glory of Jesus in the church in the last days.

Are you here? But it's with people that are hungry. Now go back to Exodus 33. You thought I forgot about it, didn't you?

But I didn't. I've been with the Lord for two days in a hotel room, and I'm just about ready to explode. I wish we could just have services all night tonight, all day tomorrow, and all tomorrow night.

Just forget about sleeping for a while. Did it last night? Paul preached all night one time. Kid got tired in the third floor, fell out of the rafters, dead.

Paul went over and raised him up from the dead and went back to preaching. Then the sun came up the next morning. Paul got on the boat and left.

I tell churches all the time, one day, God's going to let me preach all night long. And the sun's going to come up. I'm going to get on American Airlines and fly home and kiss my wife and kids.

I believe him for it. But I promise never to go beyond the Spirit of God. You understand what I'm saying? You know, if our hunger would increase, we could handle it. But God says they can't handle it right now.

I can only give them little doses right now. Because their capacity is not great enough to handle it. They've not developed their spirits to the place where they can handle it.

And you can handle a good three-hour movie. The preacher goes until 11 o'clock, and it's like, well, you know, tonight. Well, that's because your appetite is focused wrong. Amen.

Three-hour Super Bowl game, or you can handle three hours at the mall. What I'm doing is shining the light. That's what the Holy Ghost is doing.

I didn't plan any of this. I was going to preach something totally different tonight. A Holy Ghost is shining the light on you and you go, you don't walk up into an attic, turn on the light and say, where did all that junk come from?

There, the light exposed it. The light's exposing it. Oh, I look for the day when people walk into rooms and atmospheres change because they're stronger in God than the sinners are in the devil.

The reason Jesus could eat with sinners is because he dominated the atmosphere because he was stronger in God than the sinners were in the devil. If you're stronger in God than the sinner is in the devil, you'll control the atmosphere.

If the sinner is stronger in the devil than you are in God, he'll control the atmosphere. God wants people these last days with strong spirits.

Strength comes from obeying God in hard times. You can come down here and ask for anointing and have the hair rubbed off the top of your head and have every single double portion of prayer line and everything else and still be, listen to me, weak spiritually.

You know what you are? You're like a 75-watt light bulb hooked up to a 5,000-volt transformer. You're like freaking because you don't have the capacity to handle it. You have to develop your spirit to handle it.

Do you understand? We have to develop our spirit to be able to handle what God wants to do in these last days. Most people can't handle the glory.

If the glory of God came in here right now, half of us would fall over dead. And I'm right here with you, folks. I'm not trying to say, I'm out of there. I'm with you.

God is calling us to develop and to strengthen our spirits where we can handle what he wants to do in these last days. No matter how old you are, no matter how young you are, God just will find people that will do it.

The Bible says about John the Baptist, he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation. But what was happening in the desert? The Bible says he grew strong in spirit.

And the word "strong in spirit" left off of the page. And I said, that's it. That's what God wants. Not strong emotions, not strong intellect, not strong will

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription:

I'm looking for people who can contain the glory. Now, put a light bulb on a 5,000-volt transformer, it'll get strange. It'll blow its circuits. That's how come you get people that act religious and weird. They're trying to act all spiritual like they got something when they really don't.

Are you here tonight? It's so simple. You want to hear it? Here's the whole matter. Fear God. Keep his commandments. Case closed. That's it. But here's the trick. Obeying his commandments in the midst of suffering. That's where you grow strong.

Though he was a son, he learned obedience by what he suffered. Now, I know a lot of people that have suffered, yet they're not strong, they're bitter. So it's not just suffering alone. It's obedience in the midst of suffering. That's what developed strong spirits.

But you see, if you're always under, and you're always looking for a fix, you're coming in and saying, "I want to get the gift." I want to get a fix. You know what you are? Spiritual junkie. A moocher.

Sometimes people are more blessed to be in a dry land than an abundant land. Because in the dry land, they've got to dig. They've got to dig. They've got to dig. They've got to dig. Yeah, well, in the midst of famine. When you're in an abundant land, you just sit there and pull up the long chair and put up the umbrella and sit on a cool one.

I'll fly away. Oh, glory. Oh, glory. Of your presence. Got all the songs. All the music, all the words, even hosanitype, no presence, no fire burning on the ending.

Jeremiah said his word was in my heart. I tried to hold it back because every time I preached, I got in trouble. A little bit relate, not totally, but a little bit. He said every time I preach, I get in trouble. So I tried to hold it back, but I couldn't.

Why? Because he said his word is in my heart like fire. Shut up in my bones. Hallelujah.

Some of you are like dynamite couldn't move you right now. That's a spectator thing. You go to a football game and they don't play football, you just go, come on, do something. Hello? Some of you didn't know how to react to this group. Whoa, you don't fit in my mold.

God has ways, not a way. Ways. Say ways. Now, I want to ask you another question. Do you know all of his ways? I sure don't. I don't even scratch the surface. So guess what? That means that God can move in a way that you've not seen him move before.

And only with hallelujahs. We got quiet and I told the musicians to stop. Some people just right in. Other people like, what are we doing?

Raising now and worshiping in special songs as 20 nations. I told the Lord one time, I said, if you don't, if you don't speak, I'm not speaking. I had to say if he's not saying anything.

So the Lord put me to the test. I flew up to Rochester, New York. Now, I've done several meetings in Rochester, New York. And I'd been to this church once, and they had me back. And we did three-day service, Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night.

And, you know, Sunday night, the building is packed because I'd been up to Rochester, and we had great meetings up there. The building's packed, and they're in praise and worship, and God is like nowhere.

And I'm like, I'm praying, and yet I feel, I sense him, but yet he's like not saying anything to me. I said, now, Lord, what are you doing? He said, nothing, basically.

I said, do you mean to say that I'm going to preach tonight? He said, exactly. But I said, folks, I don't have anything to say tonight. God doesn't say anything. I'm going to my hotel room. You come down here and pray. Goodbye.

He went. He first of all looked a little shocked. Then he went, this is right. Well, what happened was I saw the wisdom of it afterwards. Those people had come looking for me, not the Lord. I had great meetings up there and their eyes were in the wrong place.

And God said, I'm going to change that. I'm going to correct it. The third night of the meetings, there was a guy who was hooked on heroin and had AIDS, got healed and delivered. In their church, you guys have prostitutes working in your church? Excuse me, ex-prostitutes.

All kinds of people who are bound to homosexuality deliver. People healed of AIDS. Pastor goes, see that person on the camera? Used to be a prostitute. Totally delivered and on fire for God. In a choir. Hungry.

Are you back in Exodus 33 yet? If you're not, it may take a while. Look on the person next to you. We'll get there. Hallelujah! I'm so glad you prayed for me, Robin, tonight. Thank you.

Exodus 33. Now look at this, verse 1. Then the Lord said to Moses, Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt. To the land which I swore to Abraham Isaac and Jacob saying to your descendants I will give it so God says to Moses look at me.

God says Moses go ahead go on get the people and depart and go to the land that I promised Abraham Isaac and Jacob go to Canaan, promised land go get it verse 2 and I will send my angel before you. And I'll drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Pezite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, verse 3, for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way for your stiff-necked people. Now look up at me. Look up at me.

God says to Moses, go ahead and go, get the people, go on to Canaan, I'll drive out all the inhabitants, but I'm not going, I'm sending an angel. Now I'm glad God didn't say that to the children of Israel. Want to know why? Because they would have had a party and gone.

Because they were more concerned about the promises of God than God himself. Thank God he said to Moses, because look what Moses said. Verse 15. Go down to verse 15. Then Moses said to God, If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

In other words, Moses said, If you don't go, I'm not going. Ooh, I like the way he talked. When you fear God, you can talk to God like that. When you fear God, you can look at God and say, now wait a minute, God. You said you're going to destroy this nation, but the whole world's going to say you couldn't bring him in.

God said, you're right. And he relented at Moses' word. Moses looked at God. God said, go ahead, go. Go ahead, go. Moses said, no way. I'm not going unless your presence goes with me. See, that was the priority.

Moses wanted to know God. David wanted to know God. David loved the Lord more than he loved his ministry. Hello. Saul loved his ministry that God gave him more than he loved the Lord. And Saul's threatened by a 16-year-old.

He takes the whole army to go out and chase the 16-year-old. Why? He's insecure. Why is he insecure? Because his love is in the wrong place. When you're insecure, listen, when you're insecure, you become territorial and possessive.

So an insecure person becomes territorial and possessive, ultimately becoming a controlling person. That's exactly what Saul was. He was trying to control his atmosphere because his reward was his ministry.

Now David has a son named Absalom. And Absalom takes his throne. And David leaves the palace and says basically this. If God's through with me on that throne, let him have it. Because I can have my inheritance there. Because my inheritance is the Lord.

I can have him in the middle of the desert like I had him on that throne. That throne is not my inheritance. The Lord is my inheritance. It was like if God was with me, fine. If God wasn't, put him back on.

That's why David could shepherd the people of Israel because he didn't own anything. The only thing he wanted was the Lord. Go to Psalm 84. Hallelujah.

Verse 1. How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs. Yes, even faints. You remember what I was talking to you about earlier, about aching for God? Have you ever ached for him?

Do you know what it means to ache for him? Two weeks ago, I literally thought, I don't know if I can handle this, I literally ached for him. I'm just sobbing uncontrollably in that bed, aching for him.

That's what he's saying here. My soul longs, yes, even faints, for the courts of the Lord. I want to be where he's at. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home. Must swallow a nest for herself. Where she may lay her young, even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

What is he saying? Look up at me. He's saying the sparrow has got himself a home. The swallow has got himself a home. The fox has a hole.

This psalmist is saying, my home is your courts. I may have a dwelling place here in this earth, but it's not where my home is. I'm not at home. I'm not at home.

He was so consciously aware of, I'm not at home. My home is in your courtroom. My home is in your throne. My home is where you are.

There is a verse of scripture that I love in the book of Revelations that says that there is a group of people that are going to follow the Lamb wherever He goes throughout eternity.

Seraphim that are around the throne, they cry out, Hey! Hey! They're not singing a song. They're not singing a hymn. They're not thinking God, you know, I've been doing this for 10,000 years. Are you going to give me a replacement so I can go explore other places of heaven?

They're responding. Every moment, God is revealing himself more. And they're responding, crying out.

Jesse Duplantis says, when he went to heaven, he said, everyone in heaven is heading one place, the throne. They all want to be there. That's where they want to be.

His majestic beauty cannot even be described. It cannot be described. And he's purposely withheld.

My boys and I were in St. Augustine last summer. And I was preaching. It was my birthday weekend. And we're out in the ocean. We came back in. And, you know, it was the month of June.

And Chicago Bulls are winning all their basketball games. And they were talking a little bit about Michael Jordan. And I said, guys, let's sit on the bed and let's have a talk.

He said, you see that ocean out there? I said, do you know God weighed it in the palm of his hand?

I said, do you understand that? I said, do you know that God put the stars and the heavens out there with his fingers? Hello? Hello?

I said, not only that, he measured the universe with the span of his hand. From his thumb to his pinky, he measured it.

Now, most of you don't comprehend that. Now, I have an engineering background. I used to have a big telescope when I was in high school, a six-inch telescope. I like astronomy.

Let me explain to you about these stars that he put up there with his fingers. The closest star to Earth is four and a half light years away.

Now you say, what's a light year? Good question. A light year is how far light will travel, the distance it will travel in one year, traveling at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.

Now, to put that in what we're used to, that's 700 million miles an hour. Got it?

Now, do you remember the men in the rocket ships when they went to the moon? Remember it took them three days to get there? Remember? Going 25,000 miles an hour. Remember that?

Three days! You know how long it takes light to get from the moon to the earth? You know how long? 1.3 seconds.

Now let's look at the sun. The sun's 93 million miles away. If you got on a Boeing 747 and took off and flew to the sun nonstop, do you know how long it would take?

21 years! You know how long it takes light? 8 minutes, 20 seconds. Getting a glimpse?

Now, the closest star to the Earth is four and a half light years away. If you got on a Boeing 747 and took off to that star nonstop, you know how long it'd take?

56 billion years. Nonstop.

Closest star to the Earth. Takes the light four and a half years to get here.

The average star you see in the sky at night is between 100 and 1,000 light years away.

Hello? That means you're looking at stars out there at night. that the light was released when King Richard was ruling England, and it's been traveling 700 million miles an hour ever since, and you're just now seeing it.

Now, I'm not even going to try to tell you how long it'll take to get there by Boeing 747. Yet, that's only the average star you see with your eye.

The Hubble's telescope just sent back pictures of galaxies in millions of light years away.

Hello? He measured it with the span of his hand. I said, now, boys, do you know what God did?

I said, God. Withheld his glory on purpose. See if we'll fear him, reverence him, and hunger for him, and long for him.

I said, now, we get all excited about a guy that can jump from 15-foot line and put a little ball with air in it through a hoop.

They said, we got it, Dad. We got it, Dad.

I said, what does Michael Jordan have that God didn't give him?

God says, I'm going to give little people little spurts that they can do extra or see if people are going to worship them or if they're going to be hungry for my glory.

That's why I say, you know, when people talk about this is a ladder rain, I'm like, wait a minute, man. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute.

My God is bigger than that. Hallelujah. Amen.

Back to Psalm 84. Even the sparrows found a home, and swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They will, watch this, they will still be praising you.

Now, can you understand why they still be praising you? That kind of a universe, and he measures it from his thumb to his pinky. You understand?

Are you getting a glimpse? I said, are you getting a glimpse?

Now, watch this. Verse 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in you.

Watch this. I love this. Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. Did you hear what he said? This is the New King James. His heart is set.

Do you know what he means by pilgrimage? I am passing through. I have a mission from a glorious king. It is set. You know, those kind of people, they aren't shaking.

The earth can be removed. The mountains can fall into the sea. They're lover. The one they love.

Verse 6. Watch this. Now look at this very carefully. As they pass through the valley of Baca.

The valley of Baca literally means in Hebrew, the valley of tears. Say the valley of tears.

They make it a spring. What does he mean by that? They strengthen themselves.

Because when your focus is set on pilgrimage, you won't be shaken by hardships. Paul made this statement. He said, The Holy Spirit has prophesied to me that in every city I go, chains and tribulations await me.

How many people would go to, quote, prophecy seminars if they went and that's the kind of words they got? Brother, I see great persecution in your future.

Matter of fact, every place you go, you're going to get met with chains and tribulations. I don't think they'd pay $100 for the second half of that prophecy. Some of this stuff called prophecy.

Oh, my, my, my, my. God says woe to the prophets of... Israel, prophesy out of their own inspiration.

They've said, thus saith the Lord. He said, but I didn't speak, yet they hoped the word would be confirmed.

He said, but then they prophesy and preach, and what they do is plaster the wall with untempered mortar. Untempered means no strength.

He said, then when the storm comes and blows down the untempered mortar, what are you going to say then?

Because what he's saying is the preaching isn't strengthening the people for the day of battle. It's softening them up so they'll be a bunch of wimps when the battle comes. Peace, peace.

Prosperity. Houses, boats, and ministry in a good-looking blonde. God says, my people are made worthless because of their prophecies.

Now they're living their whole life for that word. No longer led by the Spirit. The word takes precedence in everything.

It's so sick. They go to these meetings and they want, hurry up and get done with the preaching. We want a word.

Where's the emphasis? You know why it makes me so mad? Because I see so many people's lives made worthless because of it.

They're no longer soldiers. They're all focused on my work. What is ministry? Is it a briefcase and a TBN appearance?

I've been on TBN, folks. I have no problems with TBN. But that's just our mentality.

Paul said, I'm established as a minister through tribulations, persecutions, sufferings. Go read it in 2 Corinthians 6. He says, this is what establishes me as a minister.

Sufferings, tribulations, persecutions, shipwrecked. Read it.

Listen, folks, I've met pastors in little cities. I want to take

Here is the cleaned sermon transcription:

Bible says they that wait upon the Lord. Now, the word "wait" there literally means "twisted and intermingled." Those who are one, twisted and intermingled with the Lord. They'll mount up with wings as eagles.

Now, listen, the word "mount up" means this. In the Hebrew, it means to go from a lower place to a higher place. They face the storm, and they're propelled to new heights in the Spirit. That's what happens to a believer who makes the valley of Baca his strength.

Because look what he says here. As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring. The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. Where? In the valley of Baca.

Each one appears before God and Zion. Hallelujah.

That's why Paul said, "I take pleasure." When he started out his ministry, he said, "God, please take this stuff away from me." Then when he got older in his ministry, he said, "I take persecutions and reproaches and distresses. I can't say that yet."

I read that one day. I said, "I can't say that yet." I fight against it when it hits my life, but inside of me I'm going, again? And I look at what he says and he says, "I take pleasure."

And I look at eagles and say, "Eagles like storms." I think, "I'm not there yet." That's where we're supposed to be.

Why did Paul take pleasure? He's not a masochist. No, the reason was, is he knew the greater the battle, the greater the victory. The greater the storm, the greater the glory beyond the storm. The higher the level in the Spirit.

Oh, we'll get into this maybe tomorrow morning. Hallelujah.